Nordic folk tale tackles those tricky emotions

Reading Rep’s production of The Snow Queen combines the Scandinavian notion of cosy comfort, or “hygge”, with the tradition of the Nordic saga.

Based on the beloved Danish children’s story written in 1844 by Hans Christian Andersen and set in Odense in Denmark, the folk tale is about Gerda, whose best friend, Kai, is kidnapped by the Snow Queen. She has to venture across a wintry landscape to find him and meets different people along the way.

Gerda is played by Orla O’Sullivan and Kai by Mark Desebrock, with Ragna played by Charlotte Warner and Bae by Niall Kiely.

Mark, who lives in Reading, says: “It’s about two best friends from 12 years old, called Gerda and Kai. Kai gets ice in his eye and heart from the Snow Queen and gets kidnapped and Gerda goes on this huge, epic adventure to try and save him.

“She goes all through Scandinavia, meets all sorts of different people, characters, puppets, animals and goes through all these obstacles in order to get to him. And then in our adaptation, she ends up saving him but also saves the Snow Queen as well.

“So it’s a real epic adventure but with a really lovely Christmassy feel, because it’s got that lovely Nordic, Scandinavian aesthetic and it’s all snowy and wintry and cosy and hopefully people will like it.”

Charlotte, who lives in Wantage, says: “We’re very excited. Even though we are in a theatre, we are layered up with all that weather.

“There are multiple characters that I play. I’ve got Ragna, who is the grandmother and storyteller of the show so she is taking the audience on this story, but then I do lots of other characters.

“There’s a few different ones that Gerda meets on her journey. There’s a princess and Storm and Vera and then I am also the Snow Queen at the end, whom we call Lumi, so I transform and do a surprise appearance as the Snow Queen for the epic conclusion.”

Among the characters Gerda meets are bandits, reindeers and crows, and there is original music throughout. “It is absolutely beautiful,” says Charlotte. “At the heart of the scenery is this house, a kind of Nordic, cosy house that transforms into different settings throughout the show.

“It just looks like a normal house and then opens up to reveal these beautiful, different places. Around it is this wintry, icy scenery, what becomes the palace and portal that’s around the scene.

“So, you get these warm, cosy reds and yellows surrounded by blues and whites and wintry things that come together in this beautiful clash of worlds.”

The show also has its emotional moments, she says. “So much of it is about friendship. At the heart of it is these two best friends, but there’s so many different things going in within the journey that Gerda and Kai go on, which is about kind of what it’s like growing up, that thing between being children and then kind of becoming teenagers and within that, all the different feelings and emotions that come out.

“A lot of the metaphor behind Kai’s disappearance and the Snow Queen’s iciness is about struggling with those trickier emotions that we feel, such as sadness and fear.”

Mark says: “And anxiety, it touches on mental health and how to describe these new feelings that you don’t necessarily have the words for when you’re younger.”

Charlotte adds: “There are really important messages and it’s very heartwarming at the end. Without giving spoilers, the ending makes you want to hug everyone and it’s just so happy after all the drama that they go through so it’s really feelgood by the end. I think one of the extra things that’s really important about this one is all the different shows we’re doing to make it accessible for all different audiences: audio described, captioned, British Sign Language, relaxed and even dementia-friendly performances. We’re really trying to make it as available for as many people as possible who might normally find coming to the theatre a bit more challenging or not as accessible and that’s really great to be part of.”

Mark adds: “I think that’s a lot of what Reading Rep is about, because they like to employ local artists and creatives, so that sense of community is really important.”

Written by Anna Wheatley, the production is directed by Paul Stacey, with associate director Chris Cuming.

Puppetry design and direction is by Mathew Forbes, with puppets built by Liz Johnson from Promotional Props and Costumes. Set and costume design is by Libby Todd, with lighting by Abi Turner, sound composition and design by Joe Dines and video design by Libby Ward.

• The Snow Queen is at Reading Rep Theatre in King’s Road, Reading, until Tuesday, December 31. Tickets cost from £5 to £26. It has a running time of two hours and 20 minutes. For more information, call the box office on 0118 370 2620, email boxoffice@readingrep.com or visit www.readingrep.com/the-snow-queen